Two Burnt To Death At Koforidua

Two persons — a 13-year-old schoolboy and a 40-year-old mason - were burnt to death Thursday night when fire gutted their single-room wooden structure at Old Estate in Koforidua.

The schoolboy has been identified as Kofi Yirenkyi, a Primary Two pupil of the Sarkodie Primary School in Koforidua, while the name of the mason has been given only as Peter.

The two were found dead in their separate beds in their small single room, in which personal belongings were also destroyed.

The cause of the fire is yet to be established.

The fire is reported to have engulfed the structure, belonging to Yirenkyi’s father, at house number OE/B 28 about 10 p.m. on Thursday.

The two were burnt beyond recognition and their charred bodies have been taken to the morgue at the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, pending autopsy.

Residents of the area are said to have used several buckets of water to put out the fire before the arrival of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service.

An aunt of Yirenkyi’s, Mrs Mina Osei Takyi, told the Daily Graphic that the fire was detected by a resident of the area who had returned home in a taxi about 10 p.m.

She said the resident reportedly screamed to raise an alarm when she saw thick smoke coming out from the wooden structure and several inhabitants of the area rushed to the scene with buckets of water to quench the fire.

Unfortunately, she stated, the deceased were found dead on their beds, burnt beyond recognition.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The burnt wooden structure in which the two were sleeping when the fire engulfed it.